In many organizations, fall is the time when budgets, plans and strategies for the year ahead are developed. While the current year is certainly reviewed in some detail as these activities take place, we suggest that now is a very appropriate time to reflect in even greater detail about your business from three key perspectives.

Let&8217;s start by really analyzing our financial performance. Will we achieve our revenue, cost and profit objectives? Why or why not? Unfortunately, managers often fail to perform the in-depth analysis necessary to build realistic plans for the year ahead.

For small businesses, the financial review must examine cash flow. So face reality and dig into those financials. You may be surprised about what you learn.

A thorough study of the competitive landscape is also essential. Have we accurately identified all of our competition? What are they doing better than us? What are we doing better than them? Are any new competitors on the horizon?

How is the new global economy impacting our products and services offerings? Is competition causing us to lose sales or shrink gross margins? Theses are just a few of the many questions that we should be asking about our competition.

Any business review worth completing must include a talent management assessment. How many A-Players do we have on staff? If we are carrying poor performers on the payroll, why are we allowing these situations to continue?

Are our recruiting and retention processes working? If not, what needs to happen differently?

Are we doing enough to train and develop our people? Are we losing A-Player talent to the competition? Talent can be a competitive advantage. These and similar questions will help you really analyze if your organization is where it needs to be.

It is a fact that organizations that regularly perform honest and objective analysis of their overall operations perform at significantly higher levels than their competition.

Businesses often struggle for two key reasons&8230;poor planning and poor execution. A thorough and brutally honest year-end review can be just the medicine that your organization needs to ensure a healthy 2007.